WWE - Shawn Michaels: 5 Awesome Matches And 5 That Sucked

1. D-Generation X vs. The Spirit Squad - Saturday Night's Main Event, July 15th 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBaDJ0JsqNQ A fine example of all the problems that the WWE can have with building new talent, encapsulated in one horror-show of a match. Riding on a wave of ill-placed nostalgia, Shawn Michaels and Triple H had reformed D-Generation X to combat the McMahons and their lackeys, the Spirit Squad. Here were five massively talented young stars, who were making the best out of what should have been a dead-end gimmick...running in to the glass ceiling incarnate. 5-on-2 odds should never have been as one-sided in favour of the "2", but that clearly was not the case when the two were part of the Kliq. The two sides had actually met at Vengeance earlier in the month in a straight-up handicap match, with no elimination rules; in that contest, the Spirit Squad were actually dominating for considerable periods, as one would have expected them to. Clearly, the same rules did not apply when it came to this encounter. With ease, D-X picked off the Spirit Squad one-by-one and ultimately were victorious in a straight up whitewash, embarrassing the five youngsters. This was just one of several times that D-X would humiliate the Squad this over the course of the next few months, but this is perhaps the most egregious example of it given the rules of the match. It might not have been the in-ring action that sucked in this match, but the sentiment and the bad taste it leaves in the mouth does. This was all about Shawn Michaels and Triple H stealing the spotlight and having their own fun at the genuine expense of others; it's telling that the only member of the Spirit Squad who would go on to have a lasting career with the WWE was Nicky - who shrugged off his association with the Squad thanks to a little gimmick change to become Dolph Ziggler. Whereas it's easy to find great Shawn Michaels matches - and believe me, there are lots of them that didn't make this list (several of his matches with John Cena, the first Hell in a Cell, the Iron Man classic with Bret Hart at Wrestlemania) - it is harder to find bad ones. But it's telling that whilst fans don't remember many poor matches, it's the poor sportsmanship and sour moments that sometimes spoil the memories we have of the "Showstopper". Whilst he in an in-ring icon who deserves the plaudits and recognition he has received time and time again, one would hope that those breaking in to the business try and avoid emulating some of Shawn's backstage behaviour.